Culture and youth psychopathology: testing the syndromal sensitivity model in Thai and American adolescents.

Full Abstract

Current widespread use of the same youth assessment measures and scales across different nations assumes that youth psychopathology syndromes do not differ meaningfully across nations. By contrast, the authors' syndromal sensitivity model posits 3 processes through which cultural differences can lead to cross-national differences in psychopathology syndromes. The authors tested this model in a comparison of Child Behavior Checklist syndromes for adolescents in Thailand and the United States. In support of the model, about half of the Thai-U.S. syndrome comparisons showed poor agreement (kappa = .40), and distinctive Thai syndromes emerged reflecting 3 prominent themes in Thai research literature: delayed maturation, indirect aggression and/or delinquency, and sex problems in boys. Such syndromal dissimilarity carries significant implications for assessment, diagnosis, epidemiology, and intervention across national boundaries. ((c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).

Author information

Author/s: Weisz, John R (JR); Weiss, Bahr (B); Suwanlert, Somsong (S); Chaiyasit, Wanchai (W);

Affiliation: Judge Baker Children's CenterHarvard University, Cambridge, MA 02120-3225, USA. jweisz(-atsign-)jbcc.harvard.edu

Grants: K05 MH01161 (Agency:NIMH NIH HHS) ; R01 MH38240 (Agency:NIMH NIH HHS) ; R01 MH49522 (Agency:NIMH NIH HHS) ; R18 MH50625 (Agency:NIMH NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

Journal: Journal of consulting and clinical psychology (J Consult Clin Psychol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Dec; vol 74 (issue 6) : pp 1098-107

Dates: Created 2006/12/12; Completed 2007/02/06; Revised 2007/12/03;

PMID: 17154738, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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